A pseudo-telephoto ("pseudo-tele") print is one that is made from a central portion of a film image frame that has the same width-to-length ratio, e.g. 1:1.5, as that of the full sized frame. During the printing process, the peripheral margins of the image frame are masked and the central portion is enlarged to the desired size to give a print with an apparent telephoto or close-up format. The degree of telephoto effect is determined by the enlargement and masking employed at the printer.
A pseudo-panoramic ("pseudo-pan") print is one in which the upper and lower margins of the image frame are masked, i.e. eliminated from the print, to provide a viewing area with a width-to-length ratio greater than 1:2 and preferably 1:3. During the printing process, the film image frame is masked as described and the image is enlarged to provide a full height print with the appearance of a panoramic or elongated format. Both pseudo-tele and pseudo-pan prints are thus accomplished by adjustment of the printer without the need for the use of a true panoramic or telephoto lens in the camera.
The foregoing pseudo-formats and exemplary camera apparatus for implementing them are described more fully in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,844--Sapp, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,102--Taren et. al., respectively, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Re. 32,797 describes apparatus for optically encoding the film with indicia at the appropriate frames to indicate the existence of a particular pseudo-format to enable automatic processing of the film in the printing process.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,732--Robison et al, there is described photographic film technology embodying a layer of virtually transparent magnetic material coated on film on which information concerning film characteristics is magnetically recorded by the film manufacturer in a plurality of parallel tracks longitudinally disposed on the film. The information may be used by the camera to set picture-taking characteristics tailored to the specific film type in the camera. For this purpose, a magnetic read head would be embodied in the camera. Similarly, a magnetic read head would be included in the photofinishing printer to make use of such information during photofinishing processes to set certain operating characteristics of the printer.
As described in the '732 patent, such information is recorded as discrete, encoded data bits in a plurality of parallel data tracks. The tracks may contain real data concerning the film or, alternatively, dummy data bits may be recorded serially in certain of the tracks to establish the existence of the tracks. In a camera designed to make optimum use of the recorded film data a magnetic read head would be provided. Additionally, it would be expected that such a camera would be provided with the means, either via the same magnetic read head or a separate write head, to record data onto the film which could indicate the extent of film exposed in the camera as well as characteristics of the scene and of the camera settings involved in each exposure which are also useful in the photofinishing process. The disclosure of the '732 patent also contemplates that data recorded on the film by the camera magnetic head may include data indicating when pseudo- telephoto or pseudo-panoramic images are exposed in the camera at particular image frames. However, magnetic recording apparatus of the type capable of recording information in the form of discrete data bits is a relatively expensive feature that would tend to be limited to more costly cameras and consequently would not be suitable for use in low cost cameras. It is therefore desirable that some relatively inexpensive means be provided in low cost cameras that would take advantage of the recording capability of the magnetically coated film to provide an indication of when pseudo-format image frames exist on the film and preferably to differentiate between pseudo-telephoto and pseudo-panoramic image frames.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for indicating on film with a magnetic recording layer the existence of pseudo-format image frames on the film.
It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus of the type described that is simple and inexpensive and thus suitable for use in low cost cameras.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide camera apparatus for recording a pseudo-format indication on film having a magnetic recording layer but that does not require the use of a relatively costly magnetic write head of the type used to write encoded data bits on the film.